WCS Marine Protected Area Fund

Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) – Today, while close to 15 percent of land is set aside for conservation, only 3.5 percent of the world’s oceans are protected. Less than 2 percent is secured within full “no-fishing” zones. The resulting statistics are daunting: We have lost 95 percent of our ocean predators, a third of coral reefs are severely degraded, and the majority of the world’s fisheries are overexploited.

With a $5 million commitment from the Waitt Foundation, we are partnering with Wildlife Conservation Society to establish the WCS Marine Protected Area Fund to raise a minimum of $15 million over the next five years. With an active field presence in 40 coastal countries, WCS is uniquely positioned to help ensure an additional 3.7 million square kilometers are formally protected, an area roughly the size of India.

WCS’s goal is to secure legal declaration of new MPAs covering 3.7 million square kilometers of previously unsecured oceans by 2020. This will bring the world more than halfway towards the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal of protecting 10 percent of the world’s oceans by 2020.